The Health Science Pathways program held a webinar to explain the programs they offered at BC

Jared Johnson, Reporter

Health Science Pathway held a virtual conference hosted by Bakersfield College on Feb 25, to provide students with multiple career pathways in the medical field.

Faculty members that were present to discuss the orientation or assisted in its presentation were  Cindy Collier the interim director of Student Health and Wellness Center, Reggie Bolton the  Dean of Kinesiology as well as the Athletics Director, Suzzane Oesch the Faculty Director of PTA, Jason Ament a PTA instructor, Konrad Dahl professor of Kinesiology and Healthy Pathway Lead, and  Carl Dean a professor of Health and Physical Education and offensive coordinator for BC football.

At the beginning of the orientation, Cindy Collier delivered a brief but effective speech about the importance of education. “Seeking my education and one of the health science programs was one of the best move that I ever made the health science programs provide student opportunities,” according to Collier. “To do all kinds of different roles within the health sciences, so we have a great group of people here who are going to present and talk about the different programs that we offer at Bakersfield college.”

The conference had an average of 150 participants. Each guest speaker provided their own power-point presentation, giving brief details of what their program offered. Programs that were discussed and topics covered included; Kinesiology, Human Biology, Health Information Technology, LVN to Associate Degree Nursing Program, Registered Nursing, Nurse Assistant, Vocational Nursing, Radiologic Technology, Public Health Science, EMT, Paramedics, Fire, Early College and finally the newest program Physical Therapy Assistant.

Afterwards each student and guest was invited to enter a Zoom breakout room for each program.  The breakout room sessions were hosted by individual presenters.  In the Radiology program room, the presenter explained the route for students to take, as well as the selection process for students to be placed into the program.  Students were allowed to ask direct questions in these break-rooms, both through text chat and direct audio communication.

The final portion of the orientation was given road maps to educational success such as federal aids offered by Bakersfield College.  Students coming out of high school were addressed as well, such as those graduating and looking to join an one-week online summer course for ACDV B55( Academic Development B55).  Emphasis was placed on maintaining high GPA, as well as the type of CSEP (Comprehensive Education plan) the student will use.